Policeman believed murdered

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 1998, 23:59 GMT]Murder has not been ruled out by Dr. S. Vasikaran of the Kalawanchikudy Hospital who conducted the autopsy on the body of Vallipuram Jeevakumar (28), a reserve police constable serving in Vavuniya, whose body was discovered on Saturday floating in the Kaluthavalai lagoon, 25 km south of Batticaloa, said sources.

Jeevakumar, whose family lives in Palukamam, 35 km south of Batticaloa which is in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled area, had set out to return to his police station on April 23, is known to have crossed the Patthiruppu bridge and reached Kaluvanchikudi which is in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled area.

His corpse was discovered floating in the Kaluthavali lagoon, from where it was fished out.

The autopsy did not reveal any external injuries, which has led to Dr. Vasikaran to establish that Jaeevakumar had been drowned.

It has however not been established whether death was due to suicide or whether he had been murdered.

Unconfirmed reports however said that there is a strong suspicion that Jeevakumar was murdered.

Despite serving in the police, his family lived in the LTTE controlled areas which has led people to believe that he could have been murdered by the military or para-military forces loyal to the Sri Lanka Government fearing that he was engaged in espionage for the LTTE.